Veil
by The Adversary
Summary: Escaping an arranged marriage he never wanted with a prince he couldn’t stand, Arthur Kirkland found himself on a planet not-quite-as-dead as he had been taught. AU
1. Prologue

Title: Veil  
Rating: Pg – 13 / Eventual – M  
Summary: Escaping an arranged marriage he never wanted with a prince he couldn't stand, Arthur Kirkland found himself on a planet not-quite-as-dead as he had been taught. AU

_A/N_: Here starts my first official Hetalia fanfic. This idea was born from many things, though the main world is based off of a side story in the manga 'Planet Ladder'. This particular storyline came to me as I have come out of a particularly dark period of my life. It may update slowly, and please forgive me for that, but I'll do my best to give you all a good quality, well written piece of fiction with every chapter.

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**Prologue**

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"_I refuse to do this, Father," he yelled, slamming his fists into the dining room table as he faced off with the man who had raised him, cracking the thousand year old glass tabletop with the force of his blow. "I refuse to marry that bloody Frog!"_

_The graying man winces but stands his ground; he had known from the start that his son would be less than happy about the arraignment. "Listen here young man," he replies, voice laced with anger. "You've rejected all offers for marriage you've received over the past decade! This man who offered, he is the last prince of the planet Gaul, Arthur, the only one left in the galaxy who will take you!" _

"_I don't _want _him, Father; I don't want anyone at all!" Arthur replied, lips curling in a sneer as his father sat back into his chair with a heavy thigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Father, when I was younger you promised me that you would not force me into a marriage with someone I did not love-"_

"_-Bugger it all Arthur, when I made that promise I never thought that you would reach the age of succession without finding a husband!" The King yelled, eyes screwed shut as he leaned forward, rubbing his forehead with his hands. "The law explicitly states that you cannot inherit the throne of Britannia without-"_

"_-first having a spouse, I _know_, Father," Arthur replied. "But please, Father, you don't understand, Francis-"_

"_-is the only one at this point who is even willing to consider marriage, Arthur. The other seven planetary Royal Families of the Eight-Alliance are unwilling to even meet with me. Please, my son," the King slumped in his chair, looking older and frailer than Arthur had ever seen him before, "-just meet with him. Just once."_

"…_Alright."_

_-_

Even though he had promised Father, Arthur couldn't follow through.

Tucked safely away in the cockpit of a ship he had 'borrowed' to 'meet with Prince Francis' Arthur sped through the solar system, faster than light speed as he contemplated his next move. He couldn't go to Gaul, the moment he stepped off the ship he would be pounced upon by that perverted Frog Prince who would more than likely drag him into bed and soon after a chapel where their union would become officially recognized, regardless of what his father said.

With trembling fingers he lifted a steaming cup of Earl Grey (actual Earl Gray and not the synthetic kind, it had been a wedding gift from his mother) to his lips, taking a sip and savoring the flavor of the tea before placing the porcelain cup back onto its spot on the console while he quickly assessed his options. Germania was also out, the stuffy Prince Ludwig and his 'wife' Feliciano would have him on a ship to Francis before he could even off-load, knowing full well that harboring him would be seen as an inter-planetary felony.

Even Asiatica, the largest of the planets would not keep him for more than a week, Emperor Yao knew better than to risk the wrath of both Germania and Gaul coming after him. He shuddered, slumping further into his seat as he pulled up a star chart, looking dejectedly at it as he picked up the cup of tea once more, sipping again.

If only there were somewhere where he could _hide_, he thought, make a new start for himself, live out his life in peace. Arthur had no desire to rule Britannia, preferring instead to leave it to his younger – and only surviving – brother, Peter. He wanted nothing of the political, loveless marriages that unified the Eight-Alliance, nor the unwanted advances of a man who was known system-wide as nothing more than a playboy, a man with whom fidelity might as well have been a curse word.

He counted off the planets as he viewed them on the chart, mentally crossing them off his list as he wondered where to go.

One…two…

…four…

…eight, nine..

_Wait_.

Arthur sat up straighter in his chair, tea cup clattering to the steel flooring of the ship unnoticed as he counted off the alliance planets.

_There was one left._

He resisted the urge to reach out and grab the projection of the star-chart, leaning down to peer between _Aegyptus _and _Siberios. _There, just between them was a sanctioned-off planet cast in shadow, one he had never seen before.

Underneath the projection of the dark sphere, written in the same green-white script as the rest, the planet's name read _Americana_.

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"This place…" Arthur stood aboard the display bridge, looking down through the expansive planes of viewing-glass that covered the walkway at the planet below as his ship circled high above the atmosphere. "It's…beautiful…" he murmured, checking his com-link as it processed the information on the atmosphere, the water, the soil content from a probe he had sent down hours before. One-by-one each of the meters displayed lit green, deeming the planet safe for travel.

Smiling a little he walked back to the control room, he couldn't help but wonder why this planet had been sanctioned off, marked as unpopulated and uninhabitable by the Eight-Alliance thousands of years ago.

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Two hours later, on-planet and exiting his ship with little more than his space-suit and re-breather, Arthur Kirkland discovered that _Americana _was _not quite as unpopulated as he had thought._

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"Bugger."


	2. Chapter One

_**A/N**__: _I am _incredibly _sorry for the late update. I knew they'd be slow because of school, but I didn't think it would be this bad. I'd like to thank all of you who favorited, alerted, reviewed, or even _looked_ at the prologue. I'll do my best to provide you all with an update worthy of your continued attention to my fan-fiction. Please enjoy this update, written with extra love, and Britannia-mun, I honestly could not have gotten through writing this without you. Thank you for being patient with me.

This chapter is rather short, but the next one really gets into the exposition, will be much longer and will hopefully not take a month-and-a-half. Reviews also work wonders on getting me motivated! (wink wink)

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_At the end of the last chapter…_

_-_

_Two hours later, on-planet and exiting his ship with little more than his space-suit and re-breather, Arthur Kirkland discovered that Americana was not quite as_ unpopulated _as he had thought._

_-_

"_Bugger."_

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**Chapter One: The Siren-Song of the 'New' World**

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Americana was beautiful.

Arthur had transported from his ship to the surface after hours of deliberation on the perfect spot, ultimately deciding on a grain-y clearing amidst sloping hills and patches of forest. He explored with leisure, treading through the open fields he had seen only in the holo-novels he had viewed at home, projected memories of a time long past in his planet's history.

This land was untamed, wild and free; it was by far the complete opposite of his own Britannia a massive, sprawling city that encompassed the entire globe, stretching out over even the oceans.

He sighed in pleasure, eyes closing as he relaxed, fingers brushing the long stalks of grain as he stood, silent, halfway up a hill and surveying the land around him. It was almost as if the world was singing to him at that moment.

Wait.

Was that…_actual_ singing? The further up the hill he moved the louder the voice seemed to get. Arthur dropped to his knees as he crested the hill, crawling through the thick golden grasses, parting them with gloved fingers like a curtain.

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"_Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain_..." A young man dressed in faded jeans and a dirty shirt tended to a patch of dark earth sprouting with plants as he sang, thrusting a hoe into the dirt with each line he sang, "_For purple mountain majesties, upon the fruited plain-" _he trailed off as he stabbed the tool into the soft earth beneath him, straightening as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

Arthur crawled closer through the corn-yellow stalks of grain, parting them farther with black and white-gloved fingers as he peered through them, trying to get a better view. He took a deep breath, air flowing through the re-breather in his nose, filtering clean and pure as it filled his lungs. '_I thought this place was unpopula-' _

Blue eyes met his as the head below turned his direction, pausing momentarily before the body twisted to face him fully.

"Bugger."

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Arthur scrambled to his feet as man below stared up at him, heel digging into the too-soft earth, tossing flecks of brown behind him as he started to run. He wheezed as he ran, lungs straining from the exercise his body so rarely got, pushing harder as he heard a muffled curse and the rustling of parted stalks of grain that did not quite match his own.

"Hey! Don't run-" the blond man's voice called from below, echoing on the hills as he cupped a hand to his mouth and yelled. "-I'm not gonna hurt you!" He ignored the voice, panting harder, his helmet fogging from his moist breath. "C'mon man, this so isn't-"

Arthur let out a yelp as his foot caught a rock, tripping him up and sending him toppling into the grain, the dried stalks snapping under his weight. He rolled down the rest of the hill, landing head-over-feet in a heap at the bottom of the hill he had climbed earlier, the sound of laughter reaching his ears.

"Oh man, are you okay?" He heard the quick crunch of footsteps as the man in the white shirt descended from the top of the hill, turning quickly away as he pushed himself to his feet, dusting the broken bits of stalk and seed from his suit, picking them off of his helmet. A warm hand clasped his shoulder, surprising him. He let out a growl and turned, punching the man in the stomach.

"-Augh!" the blond released him, stumbling back as he held his stomach. "What the hell, man? Not cool, _not cool at all._ Why did you freaking hit me?"

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Ten minutes and a hasty apology later, Arthur worked to keep his temper as the blond man asked him excited questions almost too quickly for his spacesuit's built in translator to keep up with.

"So who exactly _are _you? And where are you from? I've never seen one of those suits before, isn't it hot in there?" the blond asked with a fluid rapidity that only his little brother Peter could hope to match; blue, blue eyes crinkling with happiness as he held a welcoming hand out to the off-worlder. "You're some kinda spaceman, right? I know you're not from around here-"

"-I am not a '_spaceman_', stranger," he replied with a sniff. "My name is Arthur Kirkland, and I am from the planet Britannia. Your name is..?" Arthur curtly asked the smiling _American_ as he batted the outstretched hand out of his way, already annoyed.

His nerves grated more as the American pressed close, invading his personal space as a heavy arm was slung over his shoulders, pulling him against the larger form as the native laughed. "I haven't introduced myself yet? I guess I forgot in all the excitement. The name's Alfred. Alfred Jones. And I'd like to welcome you to Americana, _Artie_."

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End of Chapter One

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_Preview:_

"_This is amazing—Americana must have been so advanced," Arthur murmured, running his hands along the smooth material that covered the side of a collapsed building. "The materials that this building is made of we've only just begun to work with…" _

_He turned to Alfred, excited. "Do you realize how _incredible_ all of this is? All of this—this technology, do you know how many millions it's worth? Do you know how many people would _kill_ to even get a hold of this stuff?"_

"_Oh I don't know about any of that," Alfred laughed, scratching the back of his head. "It's just home to us. 'Sides, no one's been able to use any of it since the-"_

"_Hey, Alfred!" They both turned at the sound of a chipper, slightly effeminate voice calling out to them._

"_Feliks?"_


End file.
